Piano-stool



(No Model.)

H.v T. MERRILL.

.PIANO STQOL.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

HIRAM T. MERRILL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PIANO- STOO L.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 324,143, dated August 11, 17885.

Application tiled September 26, 1883.

specification.

This invention relates to improvenlents in piano-stools provided with means for vertically adjusting the seat; and' the objects of the invention are to prevent the seat from s having a rocking movement upon its threaded bearing, to exclude dust from said bearing, to decrease the cost and increase the durability of the stool by providing a standard having cast therewith screw-th reads forming the bearing for the stool, to provide for a detachable connection of separate leg-supports with the standard, andV to provide such a stool with a cast-metal seat. These objects are attained by devices illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which is shown a side elevation of a stool, partly in section, embodying the invention herein described and claimed.

' A designates a circular seat, made entirely of cast metal and slightly concaved on its upper face, and provided with a downwardlycurving flange, a, after the usual form in which these seats have heretofore been constructed, the central or main portion of the seat being cast with pertorations or an open-work representing any tasty design-such as iiowers, leaves, or fanciful iigures-which will admit of a free circulation of air through the seat. Gast with and on the under side of the seat are lugs or enlargements b, corresponding in number with the seat-supporting arms cast upon the sleeve B, said lugs b being provided with screw-threaded recesses forming seats for set-screws d, which unite the seat with and clamp it firmly upon the arms c. By this construction the seat may be made to present a very light and artistic appearance and yet embody all the necessary strength, and at the same time avoid the clumsy appearance so common to wooden and upholstered seats, and their liability to work loose on their fastenings, and to crack and split.

Other advantages accruing to a cast-metal seat are its cheapness in cost, the facility with which they may be produced in large numbers, and the saving in time and labor required in finishing them for use after once being shaped.

` Sleeve B is cast with internal threads, e, which extend on either side of its center of length a sufficient distance to afford a substantial bearing for the male screw it receives, and to leave at each end smooth-bored and enlarged chambers f g, respectively; but it may here be stated that chamber f may be omitted and the screw-thread extend up to the top of the sleeve, so far as the present invention is concerned. Vorking in this sleeve are screwthreads ZL, cast with and upon the standard or post C of the stool, which standard has also cast therewith a shoulder or ring, t', which limits the downward adjustment ot' the sleeve and forms a solid base for the same when the stool is screwed down.

For a short distance below the screw-threads h the standard lC is reduced in diameter, as shown at j, said reduced portion terminating abruptly in what may be termed a shoulder, k, which is ol' a sufficient diameter to permit the chambered portion g of the sleeve to (it snugly over it, the length of the shoulder It being preferably sufficient to correspond with the ordinary adjustments of the stool, so that in such adjustments the chamber g will embrace the shoulder and exclude dust and other foreign substances from the bearings of the stool, and besides prevent an otherwise unsightly break in the outline of the sleeve and standard and keep the stool from rocking. 1

Chamber g has another important function in that it prevents an accidental detachment,

sometimes unpleasant to the operator, of the sleeve and seat from the standard when the seat is screwed to a height sufticient to detach its screw-threads from the standard, for, as will be seen, in such case the chamber g will extend sufficiently down on the screw of the standard to maintain the sleeve thereon, no matter to what extent the turning of the stool may be maintained.

The lower end of the standard is cast with a concave bearing, Z, to receive corresponding lugs, m, projecting from each of three or more scroll-legs, D, the angles of these lugs being formed on a radius, so as to t close together,

and having their edges or apiees truncated, so that by means of a bolt, a, dropped through the hollow standard and a nut, 0, they may be elamped tightly but removably in their bearing. By i'orn'n'lm upon the standard a globelike enlargement the upper' scroll portion ofthe legs may also have a bearing tendin?,` t0 steady and render them rigid; but usually this is more for ornamentation than other purposes.

Attaching the legs in the manner described enables them to be east separately and in eomplieated designsmot possible if they were neeessarily integral with eaeh other, and besides suoli an attachment is not only simple but effective.

In conclusion, it should be stated that, so far as the cast-metal seat is eonoerued, ilY may be secured to arms upon an e\ternall 3f serewthreaded rod or tube working in a soeket in the standard.

Having described the invention, what is l i l l l i claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent isl.. The combination, with the seat-supporting,` sleeve provided with a chamber, g, of the serew threaded standard provided with a shoulder, k, adapted to work in said chamber, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2, VThe combination, with the standard provided with serewthreads, a shoulder, 7c, and ring i east thereon, of a screw-threaded seatsupporting sleeve working on said standard and provided with a el1a1nber, r/, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the standard provided with a hollow bearing, Z, of the legs D, having' lugs m, fitting in said bearing, and the bolt a and the set-screw o, substantially as described.

HIRAXI T. MERRILL.

Witnesses:

JNO. G.' ELLIOTT, NV. W". llmorr. 

